Here's Where We're At

Well, things are going so slowly that people are beginnig to ask just where we're at with our adoption. So just in case you're wondering, I'll fill you in.

First, here are a few China adoption terms that will help:

Dossier

- the paperwork that makes up our application file that is sent to China.

CCAA (China Center for Adoption Affairs)

- China's adoption headquarters.

LID (Log-In-Date)

- the day a dossier is logged in at the CCAA.

Referral

- when a child is matched with a family.

OKAY, HERE'S WHERE WE'RE AT ...

We mailed our dossier to our adoption agency (CHI) on December 23, 2005. Our dossier was mailed to China on January 13, 2006. Our agency's in-China staff then translated our dossier into Chinese and submitted it to the CCAA. Our dossier was logged in at the CCAA on February 9, 2006.

Every 4-5 weeks, the CCAA mails out referrals. The wait shortens or lengthens depending on how many LIDs they are able to include in each referral batch. The last batch of referrals arrived on April 6, 2007 and only included two days of LIDs - October 25 & 26, 2005.

The CCAA needs to make referrals for the rest of October 2005, November and December 2005, January 2006, and the first 8 days of February 2006 before they get to our LID.

So, there you have it. We are waiting for our February 9, 2006 LID to be matched with Malia. The CCAA is still working on the end of October 2005. The amount of LIDs the CCAA gets through each 4-5 weeks varies greatly. The current average is about 12 LIDs every 4-5 weeks.

ON A KINDA FUNNY NOTE ...

I came across a website called China Adoption Forecast. This website allows you to type in your LID to see the possible range of dates you might receive your referral. When I typed in our February 9, 2006 LID, they forecasted we would receive a referral somewhere between July of this year and July of 2012!!! ... with the probable referral coming in November 2007.

Our agency's website states that the wait time is now between 16-24 months after you've received your LID. That puts us at receiving a referral somewhere between June 2007 and February 2008. We will travel 6-8 weeks after we receive our referral.

Until then, we continue to wait ...